Area women in health care field receive national kudos

Two women who work at area pharmaceutical companies were honored for their support of women in the field last week at the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association luncheon in New York City.

Fran DeGrazio, vice president of global scientific affairs and technical services at West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. in Uwchlan, was recognized as a Luminary by the national association.

Sue Browne, director of CNS discovery research at Teva Pharmaceuticals in West Goshen, was honored as a Rising Star by the association.

They were honored as Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, or HBA, at its 28th Woman of the Year event on Thursday at the New York Hilton Midtown, where Bahija Jallal, executive vice president of AstraZeneca and head of MedImmune, was honored as the HBA’s Woman of the Year in front of more than 2,000 attendees.

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HBA Luminaries have more than 20 years of industry experience and serve as role models in their companies as mentors and sponsors for women.

DeGrazio has been in the pharmaceutical packaging industry for over 30 years with expertise in the area of delivery of injectable drug products such as vial/closure combinations, prefillable syringe systems and injectable combination products.

She has performed various functions within the analytical laboratory and research and development areas. She spent 13 years in the technical customer service and contract laboratories areas with responsibility for strategic planning and implementation for both organizations.

DeGrazio was promoted to West’s vice president for quality assurance, Americas, in 2002 and in 2006 she transitioned into the role of vice president of marketing and strategic business development. Now, she leads the Scientific Affairs and Technical Services organization, the company said.

DeGrazio, who holds a degree in chemistry from Cabrini College in Radnor, said she’s been involved with the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association for several years and also with a women’s network group at West.

“As a leader in the organization, it’s my responsibility to help and develop everyone,” said DeGrazio, 55, of East Pikeland. “As a woman, it’s good to be available to the younger women in the organization. Women do face different challenges than men in having a family and working, so it’s good to be able to share my insights with them.”

HBA Rising Stars are professionals in the early stages of their career. They represent various sectors of the health care industry and are designated by HBA’s Corporate Partner organizations.

The Rising Stars are inspiring leaders, role models to others and are individually recognized for their vision, dedication, and action, the organization said.

“It’s a very big honor and a very big surprise,” Browne said of being named a Rising Star. “I think it’s more challenging as a woman to make it to the top tiers of management. At least half the workers (in laboratories) are women, but not at upper management levels. I think it’s definitely improving” due to organizations like the HBA.

Browne came to the United States in the 1990s from the United Kingdom to study Huntington’s Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Now, 20-odd years on, I oversee a pharmaceutical research team devoted to developing therapies for HD (Huntington’s Disease) and other neurological disorders,” noted Brown, 50, of Sadsbury.”I also sit on the scientific advisory board of the organization that initially brought me here.”

Browne joined the faculty at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College in New York City, where for six years she directed a laboratory researching neurodegenerative disease mechanisms, and taught medical and post-graduate students. She also worked in Merck’s R&D department.

She joined Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2013 because of the company’s strategic focus on diseases like Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

“That is my dream. I want to be involved in finding a cure for or a drug to treat Huntington’s Disease and Parkinson’s,” Browne said.

Bonnie Wingate, president of the Greater Philadelphia HBA chapter and a partner at Insigniam, said the chapter has 850 members and the national organization has 8,000 to 9,000 members with 110 corporate sponsors. Now almost 40 years old, it seeks to break the glass ceiling for women in the field, to drive for more women to enter the STEM fields and to support companies in having their own women’s support programs.

“The percentage of women in health care is high, but not in leadership positions,” Wingate said. “The organization has made a big contribution” in helping women advance in the field.

– To contact Business Editor Brian McCullough, call 610-235-2655 or send an email to bmccullough@dailylocal.com.